Acai Berry Extract by Indiana Botanic Gardens

INSUFFICIENT RELIABLE EVIDENCE to RATE

• Aging skin. Although there is interest in using oral or topical acai to prevent aging skin, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of acai for this purpose.
• Athletic performance. It is unclear if oral acai is beneficial for improving athletic performance. Details: Preliminary clinical research in amateur cyclists shows that consuming 400 grams of pasteurized acai pulp daily for 15 days prevents oxidative damage and decreases levels of blood lactate during exercise by 28% when compared with placebo. Consuming acai pulp also seems to increase anaerobic threshold intensity, but does not improve maximum workload or measures of exertion, when compared to baseline (102860).
• Erectile dysfunction (ED). Although there is interest in using oral acai for ED, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of acai for this condition.
• Hypercholesterolemia. Although there is interest in using oral acai for hypercholesterolemia, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of acai for this condition.
• Metabolic syndrome. Although there is interest in using oral acai for metabolic syndrome, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of acai for this condition.
• Obesity. It is unclear if oral black seed is beneficial for improving metabolic indices in overweight individuals. Details: In overweight individuals, preliminary clinical research shows that consuming 100 mg of acai pulp (Sambazon Acai Smoothie Pack, Sambazon Inc.) twice daily for one month reduces fasting glucose and total cholesterol levels when compared with baseline. However, no effect was seen on levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or blood pressure (17731). The validity of these findings is limited by the lack of a comparator group.
• Osteoarthritis. Although there is interest in using oral acai for osteoarthritis, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of acai for this condition.
• Tinnitus. It is unclear if oral acai is beneficial for chronic tinnitus. Details: A small clinical study in adults with unilateral or bilateral chronic tinnitus, with either normal hearing or mild hearing loss, shows that taking dried acai pulp extract 100 mg daily for 3 months decreases tinnitus discomfort when compared with baseline (107846). However, the validity of this finding is limited by the lack of statistical comparison to the placebo group, which reported a numerically similar improvement in tinnitus discomfort. More evidence is needed to rate acai for these uses.

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POSSIBLY SAFE ...when used orally and appropriately, short-term. Acai pulp, in a dose of up to 162.5 grams daily, has been used with apparent safety for up to 3 months in clinical research (17731,99400). There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of acai when used topically.

PREGNANCY AND LACTATION:
Insufficient reliable information available; avoid using.

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ANTIDIABETES DRUGS Interaction Rating = Moderate Be cautious with this combination. Severity = Moderate •  Occurrence = Possible •  Level of Evidence = D Theoretically, taking acai with antidiabetes drugs might interfere with glycemic control.  Details Preliminary clinical research in healthy adults has shown that taking acai may increase or decrease levels of fasting blood glucose (17731,105321).

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General ...Orally, acai seems to be well tolerated.

Other ...Raw acai fruit and juice can be contaminated with a parasitic protozoan called Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes American trypanosomiasis or Chagas Disease. A Brazilian outbreak of this disease in 2006 was linked to consumption of acai juice (17194,30245).

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